


Stars and Vines

by zipzopp



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Because I just want my kids to be happy, But I want to add them, But I'm pretty proud of this one so..., But that's why we love them, F/M, M/M, Me? Writing overdone tropes? It's more likely than you think, So I might make some bonus chapters!, Stenbrough is soft as usual, Tbh I don't know what I'm gonna do with Benverly and Mike yet, The one where you draw on your skin and it shows up on the other person, We're an angst free zone, and Reddie is just a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-10-29 09:36:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20794520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zipzopp/pseuds/zipzopp
Summary: Soulmate AU where whatever you draw on your skin appears on the other person





	1. Vines

**Author's Note:**

> We're back with a soulmate AU baby! I'm kinda really in love with this, and I hope you guys are too!

“RICHIE, WHY THE FUCK IS THE SUGAR IN THE FRIDGE?!” Stan threw his head back, slamming the refrigerator door shut and putting the sugar and milk on the countertop. Stan sighed when he heard no response, opting to question his roommate later as he stood on the tips of his toes to grab a box of cereal from the cabinet. He poured his cereal first (because he’s not a heathen) before adding his desired amount of milk into the bowl. He put the milk back in its correct spot, doing the same with the cereal box before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

“Whatcha say, Stan-LEE?” Richie grabbed a granola bar from the counter, the one Stan left for him yesterday that he didn’t eat, and joined his friend at the table. He watched as Stan gulped his coffee down quickly, his eyebrows coming together as he pondered on how his roommate could even drink coffee without anything in it.

Stan pointed to the sugar on the counter as he set his mug down, then pointing to the fridge. Richie shrugged, a wide grin on his face and his eyes wide and bright. The raven-haired boy pointed to his friend’s arm where the stem of a doodled flower poked out from under the sleeve of Stan’s sweater. 

“Soulmate drawing again?” Stan nodded in response, taking a few bites of his cereal before rolling up his sleeve and admiring the artwork that littered his wrist. A daisy-chain was drawn around his left wrist with a vine going up his hand and wrapping around his ring finger. He smiled at the drawing on his arm before looking back at Richie, who had a pen in his hand and a smirk on his lips.

“What’d you write?” Stan pulled his sleeve back down, fiddling with his fingers under the table. He watched as Richie capped the pen, clicking his tongue as he did so.

“Penis!” Richie beamed, answering the question like a 5 year old telling his mother what he drew. He let his arm lay on the table, the five letter word crudely written in big, bold letters. Stan snorted as much neater handwriting scribbled back “Fucking stop, you goddamn asshole!”. Richie tilted his head at the reaction, looking down and smiling at the words Stan had just read.

Stan stood up, going to make himself another cup of coffee when he suddenly came to a stop, shocked by the loud bang that came from the hallway. Both Richie and Stan ran to the door, pushing each other out of the way so they could look through the peephole. Stan stepped on his roommates bare foot, and as Richie grabbed at his leg in pain, Stan stumbled forward to look outside.    
  


He saw someone he couldn’t recognize all that much, but there was something about the way she held herself and the short hair that she had that made Stanley start to think. 

“Hey, Rich, isn’t that your old smoking buddy. Y’know, before you quit?” Stan stepped away from the door, looking at Richie who quickly stepped in front of Stan and took a look for himself. Richie gasped, pushing Stan back with one hand and hastily unlocking the door with the other. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the lovely Miss Bevvy Marsh!” Richie ran, picking the girl up from behind and lifting her above his head. The girl’s shocked expression quickly diminished into one of happiness as she kicked her feet as a signal to be let down. 

“Richie Tozier, what a pleasure.” She laughed as the boy set her down, leaning her back against the wall opposite Richie and Stan’s apartment. She looked around Richie and into his apartment, waving at Stan who stood awkwardly in the doorway. The sandy-haired boy waved back before retreating back to the kitchen, not bothering to close the door behind him in case Richie and Beverly wanted to come in.

“What’s a fine lady like you doing over here?” Richie smirked at the girl, walking over to stand beside her and leaned on his left shoulder to face the girl.

“Moving in right upstairs,” Beverly pointed to the ceiling, a small smile of her own appearing on her lips. She looked Richie head to toe quickly before waving her hand in his general direction. “You quit?” The raven-haired boy nodded, eyebrows shooting up.

“You?” Bev pulled out a cherry flavored lollipop from the pocket of her army jacket, the scuffed up brown combat boots that adorned her feet crossing as she did so. She lifted the lollipop up to answer his question, but he understood what she meant without needing to ask again.

“Dropped a box on my way up, if the noise is what dragged you out here.” She took the lollipop out of her mouth as she spoke, using it to point to the cardboard box that still resided on the ground in front of them. Richie nodded, eyeing the box quickly. 

Beverly pulled a ballpoint pen out of her pocket, putting the sweet back in her mouth as she uncapped the pen and grabbed Richie’s arm. She flipped it over to write on the inside of his arm, snickering as she read the words written. She wrote down her phone number quickly before putting the cap back on the pen and walking towards the discarded box, picking it up and walking towards the staircase.

“Nice seeing you, Tozier.” She turned back around to saunter up the stairs, leaving Richie with no other option but to return to his apartment. 

He locked the door behind him before running over to the couch and leaping onto the cushions. He grabbed his phone off of the table, going to his contacts while simultaneously pushing his shirt sleeve up. He read the numbers scrawled on his inner arm, rolling his eyes at the little note she added at the end to inform his soulmate that this was not the number of a one-night-stand, but of a friend. Richie entered the number into his phone before locking it and turning on the television to watch whatever lame reality tv was on right now. 

Stan walked into the living room, groaning at the sound of Richie repeatedly tapping the side of the couch, the hollow noise bouncing off the walls of the small room. He ignored it, though; he knew Richie well enough to know that he probably wasn’t even aware that he was doing anything at all. 

Stan watched as Richie methodically tapped the side of the couch, smiling as he saw tiny stars and doodles of planets start to appear on Richie’s left hand.

Richie looked up towards his roommate, cocking his head to the side when he saw the smile on the boys face and that his hazel-green eyes were trained on Richie’s fast moving fingers. He looked down at his own hands, suddenly stopping the quick movements to stretch his hands up above him, smiling as he watched the universe start to appear on his fingers.

“Cute,” Stan muttered as he exited the room, walking into the kitchen and grabbing the small slip of paper that was on the circular table in their kitchen. “I’m going to the store to buy some things. Don’t piss off our neighbors too much!” 

Richie grunted in response, his hands still above his face as he watched new constellations appear on his skin in light blue ink. 

Stan looked back at his roommate one more time before exiting the apartment and locking the door behind him, thanking any god that existed that they didn’t live far from the grocery store. 

As he walked, he watched as people passed by him without a second glance, each and every one of these people going about their day and living whatever life they’re leading. 

Stan liked to people-watch. It was a habit Richie made fun of him for on multiple occasions, but he didn’t care. He liked to make up stories about the people he passed by, creating elaborate backstories for each one of them. As much as he knew about bird watching, it was easier to look at a bird and know what species it is than take one look at a person and try to guess their entire existence. Guessing was the best he could do. 

Stan turned the corner quickly and in a matter of seconds came face to face with the familiar glass sliding doors of the supermarket. He walked in quickly, grabbing a basket and unfolding the list of items he kept securely in his pocket. He went through the list once quickly in his head before making his way over to the aisle he needed to go to. 

Scanning the shelves thoroughly, he found the bags of Doritos Richie had begged for, tossing them into the basket before making his way over to his next destination. His eyes were trained on the piece of paper in his hands, not noticing the tall figure walking backwards who had quickly collided with him. The impact wasn’t enough to make either of the boy’s fall, but Stan did stumble back a bit before there was a firm yet gentle grip around the middle of his forearm. 

Stan looked up at the stranger, eyes widening at the sight he was met with. Striking blue eyes looked into his own, he found comfort in the concern that adorned the boys face. He stared for a few seconds more before sputtering out a string of apologies, straightening his posture and waving his hands around in an attempt to spit out an apology. The stranger smiled, holding up a hand to stop Stan from continuing.

“It’s not a problem. The name’s Bill,” the (quite handsome) stranger held out a hand for the sandy-haired boy to shake. His words were slow and almost practiced, seemingly both rehearsed and nonchalant. 

“Stanley Uris,” Stan cursed himself silently for telling this boy, Bill, his full name and not just his first name like any normal person would.

“It’s my fault, really. But it’s nice to meet you, Stanley.” Bill smiled at the shorter boy in front of him, who nodded quickly is response. 

“I-I’ll see you around then, Bill,” Stan smiled, waving awkwardly back towards the boy as he left, the rectangular piece of paper clutched in his hand flopping around in the wind’s direction.

“Wait!” Bill leaned forward, grabbing the boy by the wrist before he could leave. Stan looked down at the hand wrapped around his shoulders, exhaling a sharp gasp as his eyes traced the vine pattern on Bill’s wrist. Bill looked at Stan skeptically as he picked up Bill’s hand and examined it. He felt the other boy’s finger slowly trace the doodle on his hand before looking back up at him.

Stan’s breathing started to pick up as he dropped Bill’s hand before showing the boy his own left wrist. Bill stared for a few seconds before picking up his hand and putting it next to Stan’s to compare. Bill smiled to himself before flipping his hand over and grabbing Stan’s, interlocking their fingers. 

Stan smiled too, dropping their hands to their sides and swaying them a bit. His eyes remained on their intertwined hands as Bill pulled them out of the store, grocery baskets and lists forgotten stranded in the aisle as they left.


	2. Interlude

It had been three days. Three blissful days where Stan was carefree and loved his life with his soulmate. He and Bill really did get along well. In fact, after their first night out, they both wondered why they weren’t already friends. 

Stan sighed as he and Bill sat on the couch in the corner of the library, studying for their own classes. Bill looked up from his textbook, eyes glossed with concern and his hand was placed on Stan’s shoulder in a matter of seconds. The way he tilted his head spoke for him, urging Stan to tell him what was wrong.

“All good things must come to an end,” Stan muttered to himself under his breath, but his words were just loud enough that Bill still heard what the boy had said. His eyes widened as he scooted closer to his study partner but before he could ask what was going on, Stan picked up his head and started to speak again, “I… Richie, my roommate, he’s a fucking asshole. And as happy as you have been knowing just me, he  _ really  _ wants to meet you.”

Bill laughed, muffling the noise with his mouth as to not disturb anyone else there. “That’s it? You had me worried, Stan!” Bill flicked the other boy’s shoulder in retaliation, settling back into the couch and picking up his textbook, resting it on his legs. 

“Sorry. He’s just, he’s the fucking worst and if you get uncomfortable, that is  _ perfectly fine _ . I get uncomfortable around him a lot, so if you do, it’s not weird. Just tell me and I’ll throw a pillow at him or something and tell him to leave-” Stan stopped abruptly when he felt the couch move as Bill leaned forward, hiding his face in his cupped hands, trying to muffle his chuckling.

“You get  _ uncomfortable _ ? Around your  _ roommate _ ?” Bill tilted his head to the right to look at Stan, who was sitting ramrod straight, back not even against the couch. Stan looked over at Bill to see just one of his eyes peeking out of his hands and he smiled softly at the sight before registering what he had just been asked.

“Of course I do! I live with Richie fucking Tozier aka a living nightmare. Don’t get me wrong, I love the boy to death, but sometimes i just wanna-” Stan stopped once again, his teeth clenched as he tightened the muscles in his hands, clenching his fists in front of him. Bill let out another laugh, shaking his head as he refocused back on his work. Stan followed soon after, grabbing his highlighters and color-coding the neat scrawl on the loose-leaf sheet of paper his notes were written on. 

“So, when am I meeting the infamous  _ Richard Tozier _ ?” Bill’s eyes still remained on the pages of his textbook, but his mind was elsewhere as he talked to the other boy sat next to him. Sometimes it didn’t feel real, the fact that he had a soulmate. Stan rarely wrote on his arms, which had Bill quite worried at first, but he still felt some sort of pull when he wrote on his skin, as if he knew that someone was in fact watching as he drew. 

“Today? I don’t know, he just won’t leave me alone.” as the words left his mouth, Stan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He grabbed the device quickly, only to see that The Devil Himself had texted him two minutes ago asking when he would be home from his “hot, steamy library date ;)”. Stan choked on his spit in both embarrassment and disgust, angrily typing back a reply of “It’s not a date, you fucking asshole. I’ll be home in 20.” before placing his phone on the table with a sigh. 

Bill looked over when he heard the noise, head tilted to the side in question once again. Stan mouthed “Richie” before organizing his highlighters in the order in which ones he used the most to the ones he used the least and shoving his pencil case into his bag. Bill started to pack up his own things as well, throwing on his backpack quickly and following Stan out of the library. 

The cold air hit them both aggressively, causing Bill to shiver and for Stan to let out a sigh. “You ready for this?” Stan looked over at Bill, smiling when he saw that the boy’s nose and cheeks were already a rosey pink from the wind that nipped at their faces.

“I should be asking you that, you seem more nervous than I am.” Bill nudged Stan’s arm with his shoulder as they walked towards the direction of Stan’s apartment. Stan sighed in relief as the building came into view. He grabbed Bill’s hand as his speed increased, wanting to get anywhere warmer than outside.

As Stan dug through his pockets for his keys, Bill couldn’t stop himself from laughing when they approached the building. The two of them have been living in the same apartment complex for almost two years now, but neither of them had ever seen each other or the other’s roommates until Bill and Stan had figured out they were soulmates at the grocery store, It still makes Bill smile whenever he thinks about it, he really didn’t know any of his neighbors at all. And to make matters both worse and even funnier, the two of them lived literally across the hall from each other. Bill shook his head at the thought as he followed Stan inside after the latter’s fifth attempt at unlocking the door.

The two walked up the few flight of stairs they had to travel to get to their floor, not bothering to use the elevator. The talked idly as they made their way up and before they knew it, they were at the third floor and were standing in front of Stan’s apartment. 

The boy pushed open the already unlocked door, walking in and waiting for Bill to enter before closing the door and locking it behind them.    
  
“Aye, Stanley the manly, what a pleasure!” Richie’s voice shouted over the unnecessarily loud music that the boy had on. Stan groaned loudly, the noise easily heard over the blaring speakers. Bill laughed as Stan hung up his coat and shrugged his own off when Stan held his hand out for it. 

“I live here, asshole!” Stan threw his head back in frustration as he yelled, but the remark only emitted a bark of laughter from his roommate. Richie yelled something along the lines of how “asshole” might just be his favorite word. Stan rolled his eyes and gestured for Bill to follow him into the kitchen.

Richie looked over to the doorway, dropping the bag of chips he was eating when he caught sight of two figures entering the room. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the mighty famous Big Bill!” Richie sauntered over towards the two boys, sticking out a hand towards Bill. Stan pushed Richie aside, making a beeline towards the coffee machine and hit the power button, grabbing a mug as it whirred to life. 

Bill shook his head at Stan before grasping Richie’s hand in his own. “Nice to meet you, Richie. Stan has said… quite a lot,” Stan snorted at the way Bill had phrased the sentence as Richie’s smile only grew wider.

“Don’t let the boy’s words fool you, I’m quite the catch,” Richie hoisted himself onto the counter, groaning as his head hit the cabinets that were nailed to the wall. Stan laughed loudly, sipping at his coffee as he put another mug under the machine for Bill. 

Richie flipped his roommate off as he grabbed his discarded chips, shoving a handful into his mouth before holding the bag up to Bill. The blue-eyed boy smiled, grabbing a few chips of his own before gladly taking the cup of coffee left on the counter for him.

“Stan-LEE here is quite the weirdo who likes his coffee black. But if you’re normal, there’s some milk in the fridge and sugar in the thingy over there,” Richie pointed lazily at the sugar, throwing another handful of chips into his mouth.

Bill’s nose scrunched up as he looked over at Stan. “How?! My roommate drinks his coffee black too, I just don’t understand.” Bill grabbed the milk from the fridge, pouring in his desired amount before returning the carton in its spot on the shelf.

“THANK YOU!” Richie held his hand up for Bill to high five, but before the other boy could respond, Stan grabbed Richie’s wrist and yanked his arm down. He simply shrugged in Bill’s direction as he took another sip of his coffee, taking a seat at the kitchen table. 

The three chatted idly after that, Richie bringing up embarrassing facts and anecdotes about Stan that lead to many kicks in the shin. Bill talked a bit about him and his roommate and that they would probably get along with him pretty easily. The cycle continued until they realized that the sun had set some time ago and that it was already nine o’clock. 

“Oh shit. I have to get back. Me and my roommate have plans,” Bill put his empty mug in the sink before walking over to the door and retrieved his jacket. “Thank you for having me. I’ll see you tomorrow, Stan.”

Stan nodded in confirmation as he watched Bill leave his apartment before whacking Richie on the thigh. The taller boy let out a yelp before looking at Stan with a questioning stare. 

“Be nice next time, asshole.” Stan put his coffee cup in the sink as Richie howled with laughter, watching as Stan retreated to his bedroom. He smiled, rolling his eyes as he felt another tingling sensation on his fingers. He watched as more stars and planets were drawn on his fingers as if he had the universe on the tips of his fingers. 

**Author's Note:**

> Reddie will be here soon enough, I promise. But for now, enjoy my boys being Soft!


End file.
